Official News page 7

REAL LIFE NEWS: TOASTED SKIN SYNDROME

by Hazed

Did you know that letting a hot laptop sit on your lap for hours at a time might not be good for you? Well, duh! I would have thought it was common sense that the prolonged heat wouldn't be terribly healthy.

But in case you hadn't realized, researched from the University of Basel, in Switzerland, have confirmed it. And what's more, they've given it a catchy name: toasted skin syndrome.

They've also given it a scientific Latin name: Laptop Computer-Induced Erthema ab Igne (which roughly translates to "skin reddening from fire".

They came to this conclusion after studying a 12-year-old boy who developed the splotchy skin characteristic of this newly named syndrome after spending several hours a day playing games on his laptop, for several months. I guess one shouldn't take the name "laptop" too literally.

The boy apparently "recognized that the laptop got hot on the left side. However, regardless of that, he did not change its position." Well, I suppose you can't expect good sense from a 12-year-old but one has to wonder why his parents didn't notice anything amiss.

The researchers have some reassuring news: toasted skin syndrome may cause the skin to darken - perhaps permanently - but it's highly unlikely to cause skin cancer. Phew!

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